


POV (3rd person, limited)

by Xythia



Series: Cold Hearted [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Drabble Collection, F/M, M/M, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pro Sokovia Accords, not wanda maximoff friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 04:33:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13495032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xythia/pseuds/Xythia
Summary: Outtakes and Snippets of my story 'Cold Hearted'. Not in any particular order. Without the main story they will not make much sense to the reader.





	POV (3rd person, limited)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silver_drip](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_drip/gifts).



> Clints POV (between 23 &24) Not beta read.

“Mr. Rogers, I know that you are used to a much shorter chain of command. Going directly to the top tier might appear as a means to save all of us time, but keep in mind that a lot of what you might see as useless bureaucracy will give you insight into the validity of your request. Sometimes budget or laws, like licenses for technology, facts that fall outside your own area of expertise will influence or negate your inquiries. For future reference, please contact your direct liaison for requisition requests. Mr. Limmersby will be able to tell you if your problem warrants the Council’s immediate attention. ” Ambassador Compton was unfailingly polite, but firm.

Clint, observing this masterpiece of a calm scolding from the sidelines, mused that she was not willing to get into a debate with Steve, she ignored every time he opened his mouth, didn’t let him voice one word. And then she strode away, never looking back. Smart, smart lady.

Steve reminded Clint of one of the powerful freight trains he and his brother had used to travel as blind passengers on when he was a child. Once the machine had gained momentum it did not stop easily and trains could only run on one track at any time. And it was impossible to get off unless the intended station was reached - or the train crashed.

What a clusterfuck. Clint didn’t for one second entertain the thought that Steve had been the main force behind this particular move. He rubbed his hands over his face to dispel some of the tension.

Clint knew without turning his head that he wasn’t alone in his silent corner anymore and his body moved to make space for his long term partner.

“What were you thinking Nat? You knew that Stark would never give up the suit.” he murmured.

Nobody was paying them any attention. Sam and Scott were occupied with calming down Steve and everyone else in the room was too busy fawning over Stark and Rhodes.

“It might have worked.”

Clint turned his head to face Nat and raised one of his eyebrows sceptically.

Nat glared. “For now Stark is more willing to compromise to keep the politicians happy and away from his lover. Iron Man is much too expensive, material and construction wise to go into mass production. A deal like the one the Army has for War Machine was within our reach though.”

“Rhodes has a point. The suit alone is not enough, you need a suitable pilot.” Clint reminded her and ignored the buckload of venom she injected into the word ‘lover’. It was a good thing that he had not shared the details of the little side information gathering mission he had been sent on by the Council. Nat and her beef against Stark did not need more ammunition.

“Scott is an engineer too. We don’t know how long he will be able to use the Ant-Man suit, his particles will run out and Pym is known to be fickle.” Nat brushed away the concern. “We need more power on the team.”

That explained her motivation, all right. Clint knew why Steve had been so eager to force the issue, both the suit and BARF. Cap was the king of denial, but even he had finally been forced to admit that Tony had not lied about the severity of his injuries. He was now see-sawing between the realisation that he had nearly killed Stark and anger that Stark had forced him into such a situation in the first place.

Clint grimaced. Yes, he was also still furious with the billionaire for tearing the team apart, but in hindsight-

_There had been an email in his Avenger inbox this morning. A list of teas and fruits with detailed instructions when and how they should be prepared. Nothing more._

On the other side of the room Stark was gesticulating and grinning wildly, freely. He was laughing with his best friend and the way Princess Shuri was treating him did spell further trouble for Wakanda’s stance of favoring Captain America.

Clint narrowed his eyes, studied the way Stark was moving and his facial expressions. The genius was stressed but he looked so much better, moved more fluid and with a more open body language. Clint hadn’t seen him like this for a long time. Since before Ultron had happened. Steve didn’t want to acknowledge it, but the rift in the team was much deeper than their disagreement over the Accords.

Wong had explained that while Maximoff had not influenced them directly after the first hit, she did not have perfect command of her powers either. Which was not news, but somehow the implications had escaped everyone. Maximoff had no reason (and no inclination) to control something she did not consider actively manipulating her surroundings, like her subconsciousness or her dreams. With everyone living in the same building, in close proximity -

Clint shuddered. He _despised_ mind control. In hindsight it had been a piss poor idea to trust Maximoff. And it would be very easy to blame her for everything that went wrong. But Wong had been firm; she had not planted new thoughts, only exaggerated traits that were already there.

Like the heavy resentment directed at Tony Stark. A sentiment that would not lessen by their fraction of the Avengers angering the genius, but how to get that into Steve’s brain?

“Still. If I didn’t know how impossible it is to acquire high tech legally, I would call you insane Nat.” They weren’t back a month, this was not the time and place for a debate. Sometimes his friend played fast and loose with laws without considering the consequences.  

Clint wasn’t the type for deep philosophical ruminations but Fury’s rants about lawyers and patents were still ringing in the archer’s ears. A lot of governments would have tried to use a successful acquisition of Iron Man as precedence to confiscate whatever the politicians felt they could in the name of desperate times. Russia had done it way back when, all in the name of communism.

“If we do not establish ourselves now, we will always be forced to fight from a position of weakness.” Nat wouldn’t budge. “And you know me better than to assume I would go for the obvious Clint. Steve might have seen this request to the council as a way to draw Stark back into our sphere of influence, one way or another. Me? I never wanted Stark on the team, he is a poor fit and I was right from the start. But as long as Steve is distracted by Stark he will not function at the level we need him. His profile is very clear on this detail: James Barnes is the only one who can talk sense into Steve Rogers. And Barnes is currently useless to us, deeply frozen.”

“And now both your attack angles have been neutralised.” Clint cautioned and repressed any further comment. Nat would not take criticism well after failing her mission.

“For now.” The Black Widow raised her chin and then walked over to where Steve was now forlornly standing and staring at Tony.

Clint sighed. He loved Nat, he really did, but in situations like this her tenacity was not a good trait. She would see much clearer from a distance.

 

The End  
  



End file.
